Talk:Black King/@comment-70.191.176.97-20161212092148
It is highly unlikely that the Black King is Jesus. While it is tempting to speculate that, there is very little actual evidence to support it. Most westerners are jumping the gun on this predominantly because of their poor grasp of mythology at large and the widespread familiarity with Christianity. The only real piece of "evidence" I see is the hole/scar in his right hand. Many people assume this to be due to crucifixion, but we can clearly see his left hand in multiple scenes and there is no such mark upon it. Furthermore, crucifixion has been a widely used means of execution the world over, but especially in Japan after the introduction to Christianity and it was subsequently outlawed. The Shogunate had Christians killed by crucifixion as a demonstration of poetic punishment. So cruxifixion is not sufficient to presuppose Jesus. The prophet Mani (from Manichaeism) was flayed alive and then crucified. His salvation was thence rejected along with his brutal murder. This is just one of many accounts of prophets being rejected and killed. Zoroaster was also believed to have been murdered by the predominant religious sect of his time. Moreover, Jesus defied gravity, converted substances (water to wine), revived the dead (4 days after dying), changed his appearance, possibly became invisible (or was able to perform large AOE jedi mind tricks), and had the authority to subjugate demons--this in addition to healing the sick/disabled and multiplying food. The Black King's powers have been clearly stated to be accelerated cell replication, which can apparently multiply food and heal diseases. However, his own body appears to be deteriorating. Christ died a gruesome death, but he deliberately pursued it as part of his own plan to be killed and resurrect himself 3 days later. As the Enders' powers seem to reflect the way in which they died, the powers of the Black King simply do not line up with Jesus. It is far more likely the Black King died of some disease--perhaps cancer or leprosy...or maybe being flayed alive (which could also explain his body falling apart and why he doesn't reveal himself). Jesus claimed, under no uncertain terms, to be God. While other faiths obviously have their different takes on Jesus, the accounts written by His disciples made it clear--quoting Him--that he was God. The Black King openly says he is not a diety of any sort. The biggest piece of evidence we observe to his identity is his staff--with clear symbolism in the form of the dragonfly. Nowhere in any account of Christianity is Jesus remotely affiliated with this symbolism. However, one of Japan's earliest name is ''Akitsukuni--''which many scholars agree meant "Land of the Dragonflies." This name was also applied to reference the Emperors of Japan, whom are believed in the Shinto religion to descend from the Gods. While the staff looks somewhat Egypytian, the dragonfly does not have much symbology in Egypt. It is largely dwarfed by the scarab and dung beetle. So I think it is most likely that the Black King is a legendary Emperor of Japan. Given that the Drifters are mostly composed of Japanese, especially their leadership, I think it is reasonable to expect that the leader of the Ends is also. The dragonfly is a cultural symbol for victory in Japan, and so was often used by leaders and generals. It was adopted as a symbol for the Emperor early on, particularly with the Legend of Emperor Jimmu. Finally, a little common sense. While Japanese manga and anime writers may make all kinds of pokes and borrows at Christianity with respect to its mystical and ecclesiastical elements, I have never seen any production make a direct spectacle of Jesus Himself. The various churches--especially Catholic? Sure. We saw it in Hellsing, for example. Same with the notion of the ambiguous montheistic deity. This has been an element of Japanese culture for hundreds of years. However, I think anyone wanting to make a profit would know better than to alienate a huge chunk of its western audience by directly desecrating the deity of the most widely followed religion in the world. Even the Japanese themselves, while only being about 2-3% Christian, would find the idea to be extremely distasteful. Given that this show seems to emphasize Japanese cultural sensisbilities with reckless abandon, I would find it difficult to believe they would deviate from those sensibilities in this instance. Now making this character with a mind to make the audience suspicious of Jesus, which they have obviously done, may be intentional. It would make the actual reveal all the more drammatic when the majority of people have already concluded--incorrectly--who they believe him to be. This is extremely effect plot writing. Again, Japanese culture has a fascination with all things occultic and metaphysical. As such, they tend to be far more familiar with many of the mythologies and religions of the world (though depth of understanding of any of these tends to be low). So, while I have no affirmative speculation as to the exact identity of this character, I find the evidence to significantly weigh against the conclusion of Jesus upon cursory examination.